Central

Grieving mother creates opportunities for others

Jonathan Hibbert died tragically in a road traffic accident on the Toll Gate main road in Clarendon in 2002. (then) HIBBERT... after a death you can sit down and cry, ‘my one son and him gone’, and all that, but there comes a point when you can’t just go on like that

WHEN Norma Hibbert's son, Jonathan Hibbert, died tragically in a road traffic accident on the Toll Gate main road in Clarendon in 2002, she had to find an outlet for her grief. In 2003, she started the Jonathan Hibbert Foundation as a tribute to him, a schoolboy footballer who attended Munro Colleg ... Read More

Summer interns Relesha Timoll (second left) and Tameka Knight register residents at the Windsor Forest health fair, recently. Jamalco hosts south Manchester residents at health fair
SIXTY-two residents from Windsor Forest and surrounding communities in South Manchester were hosted ... Read More

Porus Market The story of Manchester part III — Porus
WHEN slavery came to an end in the British West Indies in 1834, the colonial power instituted a six- ... Read More

Persons waiting their turn to register complaints with the acting public defender at the Mandeville Parish Church Hall. (PHOTOS: GREGORY BENNETT) Public Defender wants more to be done for physically, mentally challenged
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The central Jamaica parishes of Manchester, St Elizabeth and Clarendo ... Read More

STETHS, Vere take all

Monday, July 14, 2014    

Principal of STETHS Keith Wellington (left) and a team member receive the symbolic cheque of $150,000 for winning the recently concluded ISSA/Digicel T20 All-island Championship from Digicel's Senior Sponsorship Manager Tahnida Nunes at the Knutsford Court Hotel. (PHOTO: COURTESY DIGICEL)

ST Elizabeth Technical and Vere Technical high schools, winner and runner-up, respectively, in the ISSA/ Digicel T20 All-Island Championship, dominated at the awards ceremony for the tournament held last week Thursday at the Knutsford Court Hotel. Along with the winner's trophy and a cheque for $150,000, STETHS also copped several major individual awards. Leonardo Salmon was declared Man-of-the-Match in the finals, while Dennis McGravey got the Top Performance award in the final as he hit a mem ... Read More

Breadbasket farms ravished as drought worsens

BY PAUL HENRY henryp@jamaicaobserver.com | Monday, July 14, 2014    

Lincoln Gayle pets one of the bulls on Fairview Farm in St Elizabeth. He said the drought has taken a toll on the animals and that the farm operated by his father, Lauren Gayle, has been dealt a financial blow.

DEVON Williams and his three farmhands toiled on his threeacre farm in the Munro district, St Elizabeth as the Wednesday afternoon sun beat down on their heads. The men wore grim expressions, reaping bag after bag of carrots. Two of the men sat slumped, shoulders sagging, on two bags of carrots. On the ground, around them, lay more of the horn-like shaped root vegetable. Looking on from a distance, one would expect that the men would be happy with their bountiful harvest. But on closer inspe ... Read More

Help Team NCU get to the 'Worlds'

Monday, July 14, 2014    

Members of NCU's Debating Team and their coach Noreen Daley (second left) after participating in the Sagicor/UTech Middlesex Debating Competition earlier this year. (PHOTOS: COURTESY NCU)

TWO members of the Northern Caribbean University debating team — Jevon Minto and Janiel Lambert — have been awarded much coveted scholarships to attend the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia later this year. The news came via e-mail from the organising committee, which is offering the scholarship for the first time this year. "I was in my room studying for an exam when my coach called to inform me that I was selected. I was at a loss for wor ... Read More

Club house, ticket booth for Brooks Park

BY ALICIA SUTHERLAND Observer staff reporter sutherlanda@jamaicaobserver.com | Monday, July 14, 2014    

Mayor of Mandeville Brenda Ramsay (right) officially opened the buildings with Judy Schoenbein, sister to Custos of Manchester Sally Porteous.

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The phased development plan of the Brooks Park Sports and Recreational Complex in Mandeville recently made a step forward with the handover of a ticket booth and partly finished club house. The facilities were made possible through the Lions Club of Mandeville and Paul Fraser's Impact Trading Company. At the ceremony, North West Manchester Member of Parliament Mikael Phillips committed to contributing $1million for three years -- starting next year — from ... Read More

$29-m upgrade for two St Elizabeth schools

Monday, July 14, 2014    

Board chairman of Austin Primary Basil Bennett (second left), Ervin Bellanfante (second right) member of the school board and Orville Hill (right), general manager Finance at JSIF get a first-hand view of what upgrading work is needed at the institution.

SUCH problems as chunks of ceiling falling during class and animals wandering on to the school premises should soon become things of the past at Austin Primary School in Myersville, St Elizabeth. Better conditions are also coming for Bethlehem All-Age and Infant School in the community of Malvern in the parish. Both schools will be upgraded under the Community Investment Project (CIP), which is implemented by Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and financed by the Caribbean Development Bank. ... Read More

For Your Diary

Monday, July 14, 2014    

* Tuesday, July 15 (5:45pm) Rotary Club of Mandeville Weekly Meeting Golf View Hotel Guest Speaker: Rohan Powell Assistant Superintendent Manchester Fire Department * Monday, July 21- Tuesday, August 5 JMK We Care Foundation Sports Summer Camp 2014 Christiana High School playfield * Saturday, July 26 (7:00 pm) Manchester Chamber of Commerce Wine and Cheese fundraiser Bloomfield Great House, Mandeville * Saturday, July 26 (7:00 pm) Rotary Club of Christiana 4 ... Read More

Howls of political bias amid Spring Grove water, road crisis

By PAUL HENRY Crime/Court Desk Coordinator henryp@jamaicaobserver.com | Sunday, July 13, 2014    

The main road in the community hasn’t been paved in over 60 years, according to residents.

IF water, as the saying goes, is life, then residents of Spring Grove in Manchester are on the brink of extinction. In order to prolong their existence, some residents have been forced to purchase the precious commodity. Others have had to travel close to a mile to an unreliable standpipe. And there are those who have simply resorted to stealing the water that has been gathered by their neighbours. But a lack of water since April, reportedly caused in part by an outdated water main, isn’ ... Read More

Where is the private sector?

BY ALICIA SUTHERLAND Observer staff reporter sutherlanda@jamaicaobserver.com | Friday, July 04, 2014    

Rotarian Elroy Ricketts (left) who was installed as the Rotary Club of Mandeville's 50th president last Saturday, June 28 greets Dr Arun Kashyap following the ceremony at Golf View Hotel.

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Jamaica Dr Arun Kashyap has noted a "conspicuous absence" of the private sector on the matter of climate change, even while efforts are being made by the Government and international organisations such as his to mainstream climate change issues in national development priorities. It was an observation also made by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) at t ... Read More

‘Cheese trix and bag juice culture must go’

BY ALICIA SUTHERLAND Observer staff reporter sutherlanda@jamaicaobserver.com | Monday, June 30, 2014    

High achieving graduates (back row from second left) Ann-Marie Wright, Tyrone Dennis, Brianna Bruce, Tiana Thomas, and (front row from left) Anthony Dockery and Xavier Wallace with Principal Prim Lewis (left) and grade 6 teacher Diana Mulgrave. (PHOTOS: GREGORY BENNETT)

SCHOOLFIELD, St Elizabeth — Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites is promoting the planting of school gardens, particula rly in farming communities, as a way to cut the country's food import bill. The country spent US$930 on food imports last year alone, an increase of some US$100 million when compared to 2012. This in spite of Government's 'Grow what you eat, Eat what you grow' campaign designed to promote the consumption of local foods. "You are a farming community. Your background is ... Read More

'Bauxite dead and gone'

Monday, June 30, 2014    

Prior to the global economic meltdown of 2008, bauxite mining was one of the major industries in Jamaica, earning millions of dollars in foreign exchange each year. Since then, however, the major players in the game have been packing up and heading back home.

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — It was two months ago that mining minister Phillip Pauwell assured the Manchester business community that the two major bauxite/alumina plants which formed the economic base of the parish for many years would not remain closed for much longer. But speaking with the Jamaica Observer Central following a recent handover of a ticket booth and clubhouse at Brooks Park Sports and Recreational Complex, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) coordinator in Central Manchester St Aubyn ... Read More



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